DRAKE’S
ROAD BOOK
OF THE
GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY
FROM
BIRMINGHAM TO LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER,
ILLUSTRATED BY AN
ACCURATE MAP, AND NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS:
To which is appended
THE VISITER’S GUIDE
TO
BIRMINGHAM, LIVERPOOL, AND MANCHESTER.
TO THE
CHAIRMAN AND DIRECTORS
OF THE
GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY COMPANY,
THIS
Second Edition
OF
THE ROAD BOOK,
IS,
BY PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
BY THE
AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER.
ADVERTISEMENT
TO THE
SECOND EDITION.
The courteous reception given to the First Edition of the Grand Junction Road Book, and the substantial proofs of approbation which a rapid sale has afforded, render it a duty as proper as it is pleasant, for the Author and Publisher to return their joint thanks for the liberal patronage already bestowed on their work; and to engage a continuance of the same, by their assurances that in the present edition every possible improvement has been carefully effected in its various departments. Spirited wood and steel engravings [v] of the most important spots on the line have been introduced, and much new and interesting matter supplied. The whole of the information concerning fares, regulations, stations, and accommodation in towns on the route, has been recast, corrected, and enlarged; and a brief but comprehensive directory added, under the head of “Visiter’s Guide,” page 97, containing lists of public buildings; institutions of all kinds; places of worship of all denominations, with names of the officiating ministers; principal show rooms and manufactories; times of arrival and departure of mails at the post office; hackney coach fares; bankers, inns, boarding houses, omnibus offices, newspapers, canal conveyances, waggon warehouses, packets, &c., &c., for Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool. The exceeding utility of this new division of the volume will be obvious to every one. The Map has also been revised, and greatly improved; and the “Grand Junction Road Book” again makes its bow to the public, in full expectation that its old fame and new merits will be rightly appreciated.
Birmingham, September 1, 1838.
SONNET
BY WORDSWORTH,
ON
STEAM BOATS, VIADUCTS, AND RAILWAYS.
Motions and means, on land and sea at war
With old poetic feeling; not for this,
Shall ye, by Poets even, be judged amiss!
Nor shall your presence, howsoe’er it mar
The loveliness of nature, prove a bar
To the mind’s gaining that prophetic sense
Of future change that point of vision, whence
May be discover’d what in soul ye are.
In spite of all that beauty may disown
In your harsh features, Nature doth embrace
Her lawful offspring in Man’s art; and Time,
Pleased with your triumphs o’er his brother Space,
Accepts from your bold hands the proffer’d crown
Of hope, and smiles on you with cheer sublime.
CHAPTER I.
BIRMINGHAM.
NAME—HISTORY—MANUFACTURES—PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS, &c., &c.
Our native town of Birmingham, of whose celebrity and importance we are justly proud, demands our first attention in this our Itinerary; although the numerous publications which give more circumstantial particulars respecting it than the brief limits of the present work will admit, render it an unnecessary task here to occupy many pages with our notice.
In our after topography and history of towns on the “Grand Junction” line, we shall have occasion to allude to their several claims to the honours of “hoar antiquity;” but none it would appear can boast of more remote fame than our own brave old town of Birmingham, or, as it has been variously written, Bromycham, Bremecham, Bermyngham, and Bromnsycham, the etymology of which terms have served to puzzle the learned in such lore for years gone by, and will do for years to come. What never can be positively settled, always proves a most fascinating subject for argument. Mr. Hutton, the antiquary, imagines the derivation to be this: wich, or wick, being used to signify a town or village, and brom, from the broom growing in the vicinity. But we must leave the subject for more voluminous writers. The late Mr. Hamper, our especial antiquary, traced the orthography through no less than one hundred and forty variations. In proof of Birmingham being a place of no very recent creation, the prodigious accumulation of scoria produced by the smelting of iron, at Aston furnace, may be referred to; as also the great number of exhausted coal mines, on a large common within a few miles, called Wednesbury Old Field. Both these must have been the work of many centuries, as is proved by the fact, that in the former, the mass of scoria has not perceptibly increased within the memory of that remarkable individual, “the oldest inhabitant,” though constantly receiving additions. It appears that the Britons were acquainted with the use and manufacture of iron previously to the Roman conquest, as they are described with chariots armed with scythes. It requires no very great stretch of imagination to suppose Birmingham (the Bremenium of the Romans) to have been a chief station for the fabrication of such weapons. In Doomsday Book, “Bermengeham” is noticed; and the manor and lordship were held by the De Birmingham family and their ancestors, during the reigns from Henry I. to Henry VIII., when John Dudley, afterwards Duke of Northumberland, being in possession of Dudley, and desirous of adding to it the manor of Birmingham, contrived, by a series of villanous artifices and perjury, to wrest it from Edward de Birmingham, and add it to his own possessions. On the attainder and execution of the duke, in the reign of Mary, the manor escheated to
“Europe’s grand toy-shop, art’s exhaustless mine—
These, and more titles, Birmingham, are thine.”
It is amusing to look back to the condition of Birmingham in Leland’s time, (Henry VIII.,) who describes it as inhabited only “by smithes that use to make knives and all manner of cutting tools, and lorimers that make bittes, and a great many nailors.” Camden, in the reign of Elizabeth, speaks of it as “swarming with inhabitants, and echoing with the noise of anvils; but the upper part rising with abundance of handsome buildings;” and his continuator, Bishop Gibson, in the reign of Anne, mentions “its artificers in iron and steel, whose performances in that way are greatly admired both at home and abroad.” Prior to the restoration of Charles II. the town only consisted of one long street, extending from the hamlet of Deritend to the present Bull-street, and contained barely 5,000 inhabitants. Now, the probably correct amount would stand thus: streets, 340; houses, 22,000; population, 200,000. Birmingham was created a borough by the Reform Bill, and sends two members to parliament. The honours of a mayor and corporation are now added to its civil dignities.
Among the almost innumerable branches of trade and manufacture at present carried on, are light and heavy steel goods, (here called toys,) brass and iron foundery, sadlery, military accoutrements, fire-arms, swords and cutlery of various kinds; jewellery, gold, silver, and plated goods; buttons, medals, japannery; gilt, silver, ivory, bone, and other toys; glass, wood-turnery, metal-rolling, tools and implements of all kinds; mill machinery of all sorts, and steam engines on every known principle. Casting, modelling, die-sinking, engraving, and other processes connected with the various manufactures have been brought to the greatest perfection; also the cutting of glass, of which there are many brilliant specimens in the show-rooms of the town, especially those of Messrs. Rollason, Price, Henderson, Mrs. Bedford’s, &c. The great establishment at the Soho, near Birmingham, is intimately connected with its manufacturing interests, as under the superintendence of Messrs. Boulton and Watt, great improvements were effected in all kinds of machinery, and the power of steam applied to every mechanical purpose. From their ingenious coining mill, the greater part of the copper money of George III. was issued. Mr. Boulton died in 1809, aged eighty-one, and Mr. Watt in 1819, aged eighty-three. They were both interred in Handsworth church, where a marble bust commemorates the former, and a statue, by Chantrey, the latter.
In the magnificent show-rooms of Mr. G. R. Collis in Church-street, (formerly Sir E. Thomason’s,) splendid specimens of the chief native manufactures are collected, and their mode of manufacture shown to all respectable visitors. Mr. Phipson’s pin manufactory, which in this seemingly small article employs so great a number as one thousand persons, is another large establishment; and the articles of oriental gorgeousness and diversity, displayed by Messrs. Jennens and Betteridge, at their japanned ware and papier maché manufactory, in Constitution-hill, are full of brilliant designs and adornment. The show-rooms of Messrs. Mapplebeck and Lowe, Osborne, and others, contain a great variety of hardware and cutlery.
Of ponderous machinery, none perhaps is more interesting than that of the metal rolling mills; there is positive grandeur in the great power employed, and the accuracy with which it is adjusted to the end required. The button manufacture is a principal source of wealth to the town, and many of its chief families may trace back their origin (their honourable origin—far more truly honourable than the anxiety occasionally shown by present full-blown importance to disguise it) to a humble fabricator of these small and indispensable articles. They are made of all kinds and descriptions, to suit all markets; as were buckles likewise, some years since; but fashion, that mighty revolutionist, has driven them from their once prominent station in the toilet of the exquisite of former days; and knees and shoes, and dainty spangled and high heeled slippers, fit for feminine feet, have all laid by the buckles which used to glitter in cut steel and silver delicately worked, or set with brilliants; and of so comely dimensions, as well nigh to cover the pretty insteps of our grandmothers. As a source of great wealth to our native town, we must regret the abolition of ornamental buckles. Steel tools, and lighter, tasteful articles, form another great branch. The first steel-house, or factory, gave the name “Steelhouse-lane” to the street. Guns were first made in the reign of William III., and in times of war have constituted an important part of our trade. Silver, brass, and iron are all wrought to a great extent, in every known variety of manufacture. To enumerate all the productions of Birmingham were nearly an impossible task, had we space; as it is, we must rest here, and proceed to notice a few of the chief buildings and institutions which would attract the observation of a stranger.
First, of the first class, ranks our noble and magnificent Town Hall, in Paradise-street, a Grecian temple of the Corinthian order, standing on a rustic basement, and built of marble from Anglesea. It is of recent erection; from the design, and under the direction of Mr. J. Hansom, of Hinckley, and contains a splendid hall, 140 feet long, by 65 feet wide, and 65 feet high, adapted for great public meetings, and for the performances of music at the Triennial Festivals; [7] it also contains spacious saloons, committee rooms, etc. Its organ is the finest in the kingdom. The new Free Grammar School, in New-street, is a large and handsome building, in the Gothic style, from a design by Mr. Barry, of
The Churches most remarkable for architectural beauty, are, St. Philip’s, in the Doric style, with a graceful tower and cupola: Trinity Church, Bordesley, designed by Mr. F. Goodwin, much in the style of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge; it is a fine example of the Ecclesiastical Gothic: St. George’s, also Gothic, but of far inferior beauty; St. Martin’s, which has been a fine old edifice, with a tapering spire, but is now disfigured by a brick shell: St. Paul’s, Christ Church, St. Thomas’s, St. Peter’s, St. Bartholomew’s, St. Mary’s, All Saints’, and others are of less striking appearance. Many of the dissenting congregations have handsome and spacious meeting-houses and chapels, particularly the Catholic Chapels; Unitarian Meeting-houses; Independent Meeting-house, Carr’s-lane; Mount Zion Chapel; Scottish Kirk, &c. Schools are connected with all, and with the numerous National, Lancasterian, Infant, and other schools, combine in distributing knowledge, in however a small degree as yet, among the useful and industrious classes. The excellent school for the instruction of Deaf and Dumb children is pleasantly situated at Edgbaston: there are also various Asylums for the young, the helpless, and the immoral (repentant, of course).
The Old Library, in Union-street, contains a valuable collection of 40,000 volumes, and commodious reading rooms. The New Library, in Temple-row, is a more recent and smaller establishment. Divers conglomerations of novels, called “Circulating Libraries,” also exist for the benefit of the sentimental. The Philosophical Institution has a convenient Lecture-Theatre and Museum in Cannon-street, with a resident Curator. Subscribers have the privilege of introducing strangers to the lectures. The members of the Mechanics’ Institution at present have lectures in the same building, until the erection of one suitable for them. Strangers are admitted to the Mechanics’ lectures on payment of one shilling. The Botanical and Horticultural Society have extensive gardens and conservatories at Edgbaston, situated on rising ground, and commanding a beautiful and richly-wooded expanse of scenery. The exhibitions of plants, fruits, &c., when a brilliant company generally assembles, are scenes of great gaiety.
The Conservatories and Greenhouses, are the erection of Mr. T. Clark, of Lionel-street, Birmingham, whose manufactory for Metallic Hothouses, &c., is very extensive.
A Cemetery has been recently laid out and planted on the north side of the town, at Key Hill, where a large excavation in a hill of gravel renders the spot striking and even picturesque: a neat Chapel is erected for the performance of the funeral service.
In 1813 an Act of Parliament was obtained for the erection of a Proof House for all fire-arms made in the town, which are subjected to a very severe test. The hall and other premises are in Banbury-street, and have quite a military and formidable appearance.
The News Room, on Bennett’s-hill, and the different banking establishments, are handsome buildings, many of them of considerable architectural beauty. The Theatre is large, and inferior to few out of the metropolis, though the indifferent encouragement given to the drama in Birmingham, causes it to be comparatively but little used. It is capable of accommodating 2,500 persons, and contains to the front, a suite of Assembly Rooms, Billiard and Coffee Rooms, &c. There were formerly two smaller theatres, and an amphitheatre for equestrian performances, all three of which have been converted from their dissolute ways, and become pious and holy conventicles for divine worship. Temporary amphitheatres have frequently been erected since, and a permanent one is in progress. For more circumstantial particulars and descriptions of these and other edifices, we must refer our readers to the “Picture of Birmingham,” [11] or other more lengthy histories.
The environs of the town, especially Edgbaston and Harborne, contain many tasteful residences, erected by the wealthier merchants and tradesmen; whose pretty suburban villas have all gardens and pleasure grounds attached. In the neighbourhood of Birmingham are many fine old houses, or halls, as they are called, well deserving of a visit from the antiquary or artist; and the far famed glories of Warwick, Kenilworth, Shakespeare-sainted Stratford, Guy’s Cliff, and other places of renown, are within a short drive.
In this brief survey of the past and present condition of Birmingham, it will be seen how rapidly its greatness and importance have been achieved by the perseverance, spirit, and ingenuity of its inhabitants. We may expect as rapid, and almost as great improvements from the additional consequence and advantages it will receive from the great works now nearly completed. The finished line of railway from London to Liverpool through this place, may, with confidence, be looked to as another great era in its history, from whence to date still increasing wealth, power, and intelligence.
CHAPTER II.
ROUTE.
BIRMINGHAM TO WOLVERHAMPTON,
Fourteen Miles.
BIRMINGHAM AND VAUXHALL STATION.
Distance to Liverpool and Manchester, 97¼ miles.
*** Those printed in small capitals are market towns.
Places W. of Station.
Places E. of Station.
Edgbaston
2½ miles.
Erdington
3 miles.
Harborne
4 —
Castle Bromwich
4½ —
Halesowen
8½ —
Sutton Coldfield
6½ —
Stourbridge
12½ —
Water Orton
6½ —
Curdworth
7½ —
Coleshill
8½ —
Wishaw
9 —
Middleton
9½ —
Drayton Bassett
11½ —
Tamworth
13 —
The Birmingham Station of the Grand Junction railway, closely adjoins that of the London and Birmingham, which greatly facilitates the arrangements of travellers proceeding along the entire line. Until the completion of the permanent buildings, those at Vauxhall have been temporarily used. To a stranger coming into the station-yard for the first time, the whole scene is one of great novelty: the long train of treble-bodied coaches, waiting under a broad covered way for passengers and baggage; the bustle and animation of the host of porters, guards, conductors, &c.; the amazement depicted on some of the faces of the lookers-on; the state of “intellectual complication” evinced by others, especially those who, having various items of property to convey with them, are tremblingly solicitous for the welfare of sundry “red-striped carpet bags, trunks with wrappering over,” bandboxes which will be ruined by a drop of rain, and fish-baskets which have a mortal antipathy to be squeezed. Other important-looking passengers make up their minds to take things as a matter of course, and not betray any vulgar surprise; and from their extremely over-done nonchalance, would fain persuade you they had made a journey round the globe in a first-rate train, and reached the antipodes by a tunnel. These valiant and adventurous individuals are by far the severest sufferers by the anti-cigar-act, passed by the Company, for which the unsmoking part of the community, especially the fair sex, are greatly indebted. The traveller may refer to the company’s regulations at full, in the appendix at the end of this volume. Supposing all preliminaries adjusted, we commence our journey.
Passing the station at Vauxhall, (closely adjoining to which are Vauxhall Gardens,) the railroad proceeds by Duddeston, and passes over the Coleshill road near Saltley Chapel, a small pigeon-house like edifice to the E. of the line. Aston Church soon appears on the W., above the rich woods surrounding it; and the high chimney of the Birmingham Water Works (lately established to supply the town) is passed on the E. The steam engines, Hercules and Atlas, erected here for pumping the water from the reservoir, into the pipes for conveyance to Birmingham, are perhaps the grandest and most perfect of their kind ever fabricated. Yardley Village and Perry Barr form the distant view. The railroad now passes over the Aston embankment, and a viaduct of ten arches, beneath which runs the high road to Sutton, and the Fazeley Canal. From this point the last view is gained of the town of Birmingham, on the W.; and on the E. a prospect of Gravelly Hill, now nearly levelled, and the village of Erdington. A short distance onwards the line passes the front of Aston Hall, a fine old baronial residence in the Elizabethan style of architecture, erected by Sir Thomas Holt in 1620, and in which he entertained Charles I. previously to the battle of Edge Hill. It is situated in a fine park, richly ornamented with stately timber of ancient growth, and thriving modern plantations. All the views of this fine old mansion are strikingly beautiful; but the one commanded from the railroad line, looking up the avenue of lofty elms, (which the line crosses,) is the most imposing.
James Watt, Esq., the present proprietor, has, it is said, expended £10,000 in preventing the line of railroad from passing through his park, which the Company intended it to do; and in consequence of this opposition a great curve appears in the course of the line at this part. Iron works in the neighbourhood have been in operation from remote antiquity. [14]
The Church, which re-appears at several points of the line, is a beautiful and venerable structure, with a fine tapering spire, and remarkably musical bells, the sweet tones of which will scarcely reach the ears of railroad travellers. Part of the village of Aston is observable from the railroad, and also the grounds and fish-pans of its “Tavern,” a spot much frequented by tea (and ale) drinking parties from Birmingham.
One very agreeable feature of the scenery on the line, is the unspoiled freshness and verdure of the ground on either side. The idea most persons entertain respecting such astounding innovations on ancient usages as steam carriages and railroads is, that they spread desolation around their path, and that the track of a locomotive engine must necessarily be as devastating in its effects as that of a lava course. We candidly confess to something akin to this suspicion ourselves. But all “Grand Junction” patrons must be gratified to find such expectations disappointed so pleasingly in the cheerful aspect of the fields, groves, and “little running brooks,” closely bordering the excavations or embankments. Cattle are quietly feeding just on the other side the fence, and gay wildflowers already enamel the newly-made banks. Sometimes, certainly, a horse or cow may be abruptly interrupted in a quiet meditation by the rapid rushing by of a “Centaur” or “Alecto,” with its lengthened tail of many ponderous joints; and one accident, very singular, if true, occurred lately. A certain luckless individual of the pig family, having too far indulged an imprudent spirit of investigation on the Bilston portion of the line, had his curly conclusion very summarily amputated by a passing train:—he turned round briskly to ascertain the extent of his calamity, when another train, whirling along in an opposite direction,
Perry Barr Station.
Distance to Birmingham, 3½—Liverpool and Manchester, 94 miles.
DISTANCES BY ROADS FROM THIS STATION TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES:—
Places W. of Station.
Places E. of Station.
Handsworth
1 mile
Perry
¾ mile
Aston
1 —
Erdington
2¾ miles
Smethwick
4¼ miles
Sutton Coldfield
5 —
Little Aston
6 —
Shenstone
8½ —
At this station, the line makes a considerable curve in an opposite direction to that hitherto followed, and passes Handsworth, (the church appearing among wood on the W.,) also Lea Hall, on the W., and over two bridges, named from J. Gough, Esq., through whose estate the line runs for two miles. Pleasant, quiet-looking scenery skirts the road for some distance, and about a mile from the last bridge, a view is gained of Perry Hall, seat of J. Gough, Esq., nearly encompassed by a grove of oak trees. At Hampstead Bridge, the old Walsall road crosses the line; and on either side the prospect is pleasantly varied by wood and water. Hampstead Hall, which lies near, is nearly concealed by its rich woods from the passers on the railroad. The line shortly enters a cutting, of from sixty to seventy feet deep; emerging from which into the open country, West Bromwich, and Sandwell Park, the seat of Earl Dartmouth, appear on the W., and Barr on the E. We now pass
Newton Road Station.
Distance to Birmingham, 6¾—Liverpool and Manchester, 90¾ miles.
DISTANCES BY ROADS FROM THIS STATION TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES:—
Places W. of Station.
Place E. of Station.
West Bromwich
2 miles
Great Barr
2½ miles
Oldbury
3¼ —
Rowley Regis
5 —
Halesowen
7¼ —
Cradley
7¼ —
The Lye
8½ —
West Bromwich has rapidly risen to importance from the rich iron and coal mines which abound in its vicinity. The great Gas Works are situated here, which supply the chief part of Birmingham, Wednesbury, Dudley, Bilston, Darlaston, and other places with gas; the main tubes extending to the aggregate length of 150 miles. There are two handsome churches, the one ancient, the other modern. Population, 15,330.
The site of the present splendid mansion of Sandwell, was, in the reign of Henry II., occupied by a priory of Benedictine Monks. Charley Mount, pleasantly situated on a hill, appears W. of the line, Ray Hall and Burslem, or Bustleholm Mill, on the E. Before passing Tame Bridge, Barr Beacon again appears, heading the distant view. Friar Park is on the W., with the town and church of Wednesbury (usually pronounced Wedgebury), towering above the trees. Walsall appears from the same point, lying N.E. of the line.
Dudley, a town in the centre of the mining district, lies 5½ miles W. of the line. Population, 23,050. The ancient castle is a ruin of great beauty and interest, situated on an eminence, and surrounded with fine wood and beautiful walks. Stupendous cavern-quarries, canals, and labyrinthine excavations, extend under the Castle Hill. The limestone is remarkably rich in fossil treasures; trilobites, or, as they are vulgarly called, “Dudley locusts,” have been found here in great variety, but from the eagerness of collectors, and the inadequate supply of these ancient creatures yielded by the rocks, they have become scarce and costly, instead of “not particularly valuable,” as stated by a contemporary before alluded to.
Wednesbury is a town of ancient origin, having been fortified against the Danes by Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great, in 916. Extensive collieries enrich the vicinity, and tend greatly to darken the complexion of both houses and inhabitants; the workers of the black diamond hereabout being a marvellously murky fraternity. Various manufactures of iron are here carried on, and the air is generally redolent of the fumes of coal-smoke in no small degree. The market is on Friday, and fairs May 6, and August 3.
Walsall boasts an equally ancient history with the former place, and was fortified by the same princess. It stands conspicuously on the summit and acclivities of a limestone rock, which is crowned by the church, the lofty spire of which forms a fine object. Market on Tuesday; fairs September 24, Whit Monday, and Tuesday before Michaelmas day. Proceeding onwards we pass under
Bescot Bridge Station.
Distance to Birmingham, 9½—Liverpool and Manchester, 88 miles.
DISTANCES BY ROADS FROM THIS STATION TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES:—
Places W. of Station.
Places E. of Station.
Wednesbury
1 mile
Walsall
1½ mile
Tipton
4 miles
Rushall
2½ miles
Dudley
5½ —
Over Stonnal
6½ —
Netherton
6¾ —
Lower Stonnal
7½ —
Brierley Hill
8¼ —
Shenstone
9 —
King Swinford
8½ —
Lichfield
11 —
Wordesley
9¼ —
The Lye
9¼ —
Stourbridge
9¾ —
Old Swinford
10½ —
The main road from Wednesbury to Walsall crosses this bridge; pass Bescot Hall, (Mr. Marshall’s,) on the E., and reach
James’s Bridge Station.
Distance to Birmingham, 10¼—Liverpool and Manchester, 87¼ miles.
DISTANCES BY ROADS FROM THIS STATION TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES:—
Places W. of Station.
Places E. of Station.
Darlaston
¾ mile
Walsall
1¾ mile
Coseley
3 miles
The high road from Walsall crosses here to Darlaston, (seen in the distance on the W.,) another town in the iron and coal district, and, according to tradition, the seat of Wulphere, king of Mercia, who put his two sons to death for embracing Christianity. On the hill at Berry Bank, are the remains of a large castle and entrenchments, and near by, a Barrow, which it were heresy to doubt were the residence and grave of this redoubtable personage. The chief manufactures of this, as of the neighbouring towns, consist of various iron and steel goods. The whole district is abundantly traversed by canals, tram-roads, &c., for the convenient conveyance of merchandise, and presents to the passing traveller less subject for praise in point of beauty, than for admiration and surprise, at the closely-placed engines, mills, coal-pits, iron-mines, and factories, which greet him on all sides, with hissing, curling volumes of white steam, or thick massy clouds of rolling smoke. Should the traveller journey through this strange neighbourhood by night, the novel and wild, not to say, grand, effect of the fires, must strike him forcibly. Huge furnaces glowing on the earth, from a dark wayside forge; tall chimneys, themselves not seen in the gloom, vomiting forth flames and fiery-coloured smoke, or a long range of glowing hillocks, where flickering blazes play from the charcoal burning within: add to these, the dusky figures of the men and boys employed in the works, and a stranger will have a scene before him, in which the “fearsome” is oddly enough blended with the grotesque.